Control mechanism for belt driven apparatus



May 28, 1935. R. c. STRAUBE 2,002,648

CONTROL MEbHANISM FOR BELT DRIVEN APPARATUS Filed Oct. 28, 1932 3Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR.

Ear WWO C 57690515 A TTORNEY.

May 28, 1935. R. c. STRAUBE v CONTROL MECHANISM FOR BELT DRIVENAPPARATUS Filed Oct. 28, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTOR. Aflr/va/vp Gim/105.6

ATTORNEY.

May 28, 1935. R. c. STRAUBE CONTROL MECHANISM FOR BELT DRIVEN APPARATUSFiled Oct. 28, 1932 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 IN VEN TOR.

' g lll BMW/v; 657mm ATTORNEY.

Patented May 28 1935 UNITED: STATES CONTROL MECHANISM FOR BELT DRIVENAPPARATUS Raymond C. StraubeQThree Rivers, Mich, as

Signor to Fairbanks, Morse a corporation of Illinois a o Chicago, 111.,

. Application October 28, 193,2, Serial No. 639,989

' 6 c aim (01. 105-107) "This invention relates to improvements incontrol mechanism for belt driven apparatus, and more particularly tomeans for adjusting the tension of the driving belts of sliding baseengines,

such as are commonly used in connection with railway motor cars.

An object of the present invention is to provide an. improvedbelt-tensioning means for-railway motor cars, embodying a-lever, forshifting the motor relative to the car, which -is operatively connectedto the motor, through cushioning means disposed between the motor andthe actuating elements, so as 5 to impart a gradual belt-tensioningmovement of the motor, when the lever is operated, the cushioning meansserving, during the time the engine and belt are operating under load,to protect the belt from casual tensioning shocks. A further object isto provide an improved control mechanism for belt-driven motor cars,which includes a lever for shifting the motor relative to the car frame,improved means-for latching the shift lever in adjusted position, and.improved means for preventing effects of vibra tion and'twistingstresses of the shift lever and associated. parts.

. A still further object is to provide an improved control mechanism fortensioningthe drive belt of a railway motor car, which is simple andinexpensive to construct and maintain, and is composed of a minimumnumber of parts which are readily and easily removed and. replaced in.case of wear or breakage,

. Still further objects will appear from the following detaileddescription of parts, and from the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of a preferred form ofrailway motor car, to which the present improvements are applied inpreferred form; Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary longitudinal elevationof a preferred form of control mechanism; Fig, 3 is. a'section along,line 3-3 in Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is an enlarged fragmentary plan view,partially in. section, ol'la portion of the mechanism shown in Fig. 2,certain parts being removed for clearness, andrFig. 5 is a sectionalelevation taken along line 5-45 in Fig. 2.-

Referring by reference numerals to the drawings, the numeral I0designates, generally, a preferred form of railway motor car, whichincludes a suitable frame structure ll mounted upon car on railway motorcars, is provided witha crank shaft I5, towhich is secured a drivingpulley l6 for transmitting power to a driven pulley H, by meansofsuitable belting la, the pulley secured toan axle of the car.

As will be noted inthe drawings, the engine I4 is disposed for slidingmovement, longitudinally of the car, for effecting adjustment of thetension of the driving belt I8, the engine being, by preference, mountedupon suitable guide members l9 secured to the frame structure of thecar. The sliding movement of the engine is obtained by a novel manuallyoperated mechanism which includes, by preference, a manual control lever20 pivotally secured to a car sill member 2|, as by a'pin 22.- The pinextends through a bearing block 23 which is secured to the sill, as bybolts '24, extending through the sill member. The pin 22 'pivotallycarries on its inner end a member 25 which is secured in spaced relationto the lever arm 20, as bya bolt. 26 and a sleeve 2l. The member '25 andlever 26 thus provide a pivotal frame which straddles the'sill member toinsure a; smooth pivotal lever movement, confined, however, to itsintended plane ofactuation. A pin Zmember 28 is, by preference, securedbetween the member 25 and lever 20, and is arranged to engageselectively, a plurality of notches 29 formed in an eyemember 3D. inthenature. of a slide, which is disposed to extend between the legs ofthe lever frame, and so prevents any appreciable lateral or angulardisplacement of the slidemember, for a purpose hereinafter appearing-This, slide member is, by preference, provided with an eye or aperturedportion 3| through which extends a rod member 32, the bore 3!, byprefer-.- ence, being of asize'to permit free endwise movement of theslide upon the rod. The rod 32 is pivotally secured, as by a pin 33, toa bracket portion. formed on the engine I l. 1 Surround ing the rod 32,is a cushion spring 35, which bears, at one end, against a shoulderedor'abutment portion 36 formed on or carried bythe rod, and on the otherend against the end portion of the slide member, which, in turn, isurged by the pressure. of the spring toward a stop and ad justing nut 31which may be locked in adjusted position by means of a lock nut 38, eachnut being threadedly secured to the portion ofthe rod which extendsthrough and beyond the slide member.

In Fig. 1 the parts of the mechanism are shown in idling position, suchthat the slack in the belt I8 is sufficient to prevent. the beltgripping the pulley to an extent to transmit power tothe rear ll being Iwill have been noted, such control movement structure 42.

the shift lever 20 is moved toward the dotted position shown in thedrawings, such movement causing the slide member 38 to compress thespring 35, which results in gradual sliding movement of the engine onthe guideways as imparted through compression of the spring, the extentof sliding movement, for a predetermined movement of the lever, beinglimited by engagement of the slide member with the stop nut 31. As

tends to increasethe distance between the centers of the pulleys it andI1, and thus tensions the belts It to transmit power for driving thecar.

The shift lever fill is arranged to be latched in adjusted positions, bymeans of a manually controlled detent device, which includes a rockerarm 39 pivotally connected to the lever .20 .by,

means'of a pin lil, one arm of the rocker being connected by means of alink 4| to a pivoted pawl This structure, by preference, consistsof apair of. pawl members 43 which tend to engage, respectively, a pair ofratchet members -44, which, are removably secured, at opposite sides ofthe lever, to a supporting structure 45 securely attached to the framestructure of the car, as by bolting. A spring 46 is, by preference,connected to the lever 2i) and to an arm portion of the rocker arm 39,so as to urge the pawl members into engagement with the teeth of theratchet. It will be noted that the pressure of the spring it serves tobias the lever 20 clockwise (Fig. 2), so as to cause thepawl members tobear against the ratchet teeth in lever-latching position. It will beseen that by manual manipulation of the rocker arm 39, the pawls 43 maybe withdrawn and the shift lever operated inany desired direction. Ithas been found that the provision of double ratchet and pawl memberseliminates any tendency for the lever to twist or vibrate duringoperation of the car.

When applying a new belt, or after considerable service, certainadjustments are needed to insure proper tensioning of the belt when theshift lever is operated. Usually an adequate adjustment may be effectedby means of the notches 29 provided on the slide, by moving the rodabout the pin 33, until the pin 28 is disengaged from one notch, theengine then being moved to a position .to permit the pin 28 to engageanother notch, the notched portions of the slide member being biasedinto latching relation with the pin by means of a coil spring ll mountedon the pin 33. This spring is anchored to the engine, at one end, andlooped'over the top of the rod at its other end, and so tends to movethe plunger clockwise or downwardly, (Fig. 2). This spring also servesto prevent transmission of vibrations from the engine to the rod, sideand lever.

A further, somewhat closer adjustment .may be obtained by varying theinitial position of the slide 39, through the adjusting nut 31, which,as will have been observed, also varies the effective range of movementof the slide, along the rod 32.

By the adjusting feature above noted it will be seen that instantaneousfacilities are afiorded toscribed is simple in operation and is composedof a minimum number of parts consistent with the results obtained.

It will, of course, be understood that the present detailed descriptionof parts and the accompanying drawings relate to only a single preferredexecutional embodiment of the invention, and that substantial changesmay be made in the described arrangement and construction of partswithout departing from the spirit and full intended scope of theinvention.

I claim:

1. In combination with a railway motor car and engine, a sliding basefor said engine, a guide arm pivotally secured to said engine, a memberslidably carried by said arm, and provided with a series of notches, alever provided with a pin adapted to be seated selectively in saidnotches, for actuation of the notched member, an abutment on said arm,adjacent its pivoted connection to said engine, and a spring, disposedabout said arm, between the abutment and a portion of said notchedmember, for transmitting a movement of thelever, to effectslidingmovement of the engine.

2. In a railway motor car of the class described, means for'slidablyshifting an engine along its base, including a lever having anopening-therethrough, an eye member extending through the lever, andhaving a plurality of notches selectively engageable therewith, a rodpivoted at one end to the engine, and extending through the eye member,and a spring carried by the pivot end of the rod, and slidably movablealong the rod by means of said eye member for cushioning actuation ofsaid engine. I

. 3. In an engine shifting mechanism for a railway motor car, a shiftinglever consisting of a handled frame, a ratchet and a pawl therefor oneach side of said lever, a slide extended through said frameandadjustably connected .thereto, a guide rod by which said slide iscarried, an abutment on said rod, a spring between the slide andabutment, said rod being pivotally secured to the engine, and a stopnear one end of the rod for adjustably limiting the range of movement ofsaid slide, with respect to said rod, the lever, slide and stop coactingfor positively shifting the engine in one direction, and the lever,slide, spring and abutment coacting in shifting the. engine in theopposite direction.

4. An engine shifting mechanism for use in a railway motor car,including a lever consisting of a handled frame, an eye memberprojecting through said frame, a cross piece carried by said frame, theeye member having a row of notches adapted selectivelyto: engage thesaid cross piece, a rod extended throughv an eye of said eye member soas to permit sliding movement of the eyemember therealong,'a pivotalconnection of said rod to said engine, an abutment on said rod adjacentits pivotal connection, a-compression spring carried bysaid rod betweensaid abutment and said eye member, and a spring associated with thepivotal connection of said rod, and tending to displace said rod in adirection to keep said eye member in notched connection with the crosspiece of said frame. I

5. In combination with a railway car frame and engine of the classdescribed, a sliding base an apertured actuated member extending betweenthe furcate portions, and adjustablyassociated with said actuatinglever, a rod extending disposed on said rod, and provided with aplurality of slots, a pin on said actuating lever for selectivelyengaging the slots in said actuated member, a spring in biasing relationto said rod, and tending to urge said pin into the slotselectedtherefor, an abutment on said rod adjacent its pivotal connection withthe engine, a shoulder on said actuated member, and a spring concentricwith said rod, and disposed between said abut-, ment and said shoulder,and constituting a cush- 10 ioning connection therebetween.

RAYMOND C. STRAUBE.

